I'm not a big fan of manga, but I like comic books. I got two graphic novels, "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" and "V for Vendetta" back in January, but haven't gotten around to reading them yet.
A.G.

That can get annoying I bet, are you realy good than? Can you show me some of your pics some time?

Ha, I get used to that part, it's just when I do draw it, the, "OMIGOSH, YOU DREW THIS?!" gets old. Weellll sure! I'll see if I can figure out how to use my scanner. XD Are you a member of DA? (Deviant Art)(Deviously Deviant-MWAHAHAHAHA)

Thanks Emmy, i'll see if I can't draw something half-way decent and put it up to show. And no i'm not a member of DA though I do know and go on that website from time-to-time.
p.s To any X-men fans that knew x-men show 'Wolverine and the X-men' is coming to NicktoonsNetwork (Channel 177) in January. (Just thought you should know.)

I'm an old person~really OLD={ How old am I? When I started buying comics, they cost 5 cents. The main ones were DC and Harvey (Casper, Little Huey, Richie Rich~none of which interested me). My sister and I inherited a pile of comics from a neighbor boy. If only I'd known what they'd be worth, my sister and I wouldn't have read them truly to bits; they were read a lot when we received them, very worn, so it was downhill from there. He had EC comics pre-crackdown and introduction to the comic code. Of course, I learned about that much later and now know how valuable even tattered ones can be. He also had a lot of Classics Illustrated. By the time we left that little village for a city, comics had jumped to 12 cents each. Annuals jumped from 25 cents to a horrendously high 50 cents! Back then, if you even got an allowance, it was 25-50 cents per week. So, I used to save treats money to buy comics.

When I was 10, I had two very serious surgeries in one year: tonsils and adenoids then appendix (which nearly ruptured). Both were followed by complications. While I was in the hospital, relatives and friends brought me comics, which was when I was introduced to Gold Key, which could be purchased in the "big" city (medium size really, but large after the village). At one time, Mom had to take me to the doctor because of those problems with my appendectomy. She promised that, if I didn't cry, I could have three comics from the newsstand. I knew exactly the ones I wanted, all of them by a new line of comics for me: Marvel. Yep! I was 10 when the Marvel revolution in comicdom happened! Well, the pain was agonizing as he had to actually cut away what is called proud flesh and fix adhesions; I cried and was, I'm sure, embarrassingly loud because I've never been able to tolerate pain, and this was horrific. I was upset because I thought I wouldn't get the comics, but Mom said, "Of course you can!" and said that I had been very brave. So, I bought No. 1 "Fantastic Four" and a couple of others, the anthology-type ones they used to have. How I wish I still had that No. 1; unfortunately, when we moved, a lot of things were lost or maybe thrown away.

It wasn't long till comic prices continued rising, and Marvel grew up a storm. So, what's a little girl to do when she's a comic addict and can't afford all of the ones she wants? I would pass up having a custard or banana split when Dad was going to treat us; I asked for the money instead, and they decided, "Why not?" Then, I struck a deal with the woman who owned the newsstand: If she would set aside copies of the comics, I would come in regularly and buy them. She agreed, and this lady did not like youngsters! I think she had what's called a grudging respect for me. Also, there was a little mom-and-pop store called Virgil's, where the owner (Virgil, of course) had a table in the front of the shop on which he stacked old comics. We would bring ones to trade: two for one. Or, we would buy them for 5 cents each. In the back of the store was another wonderland: used books that also could be traded for! But, that's another story.

I collected comics for decades until, around the Nineties, I no longer found the style of them worthwhile. Everybody, even the women, had to be musclebound. The paper wasn't even the same; now, it was slick and glossy, thus the colors were garish and lost so much of the charm they used to have. I rarely collected by then and mainly was trading/selling by the late Eighties. It's rare to find a grown woman who is skilled in comics, and I was. Once I learned that my comics were valuable, I bought a copy of Overstreet's grading guide and price guide and started in-depth studying; I became an expert grader and traveled many miles to make a lot of extra money. At one flea market, when I walked in with my backpack full of bargaining items, one of the men called out, "Watch out! The Infamous Dr. Cyn is here!" That's when I discovered that I had become a bit of a legend among the guys. It was a major compliment, and I recognized it!

BTW: At one point, I owned "Daredevil" No. 1, THE first "X-Men", AND "Amazing Fantasy" No. 15 with the first appearance of Spiderman! All were discoveries at Virgil's. Even in their battered condition, they netted me hundreds of dollars in cash and trade.

Then, my health crashed. I have long and short boxes filled with vintage comics. I guess I'll try ebay and Webstore when I can get my scanner/printer connected. Some of these will be difficult to part with, especially my collection of Rick Jones appearances. I had hoped to write a biography of this character, but it looks as if my time will run out before I can do that. I still have many empty spots in Rick's saga. *sigh*

I do love manga, but I've been able to afford very few books. I also will need to find homes for them someday, which shouldn't be difficult. I sent one to a penfriend in England, and she loved it. Naturally, I also love anime. However, I've never been tempted to draw in that style. I think my own style is too engrained.

I have to say that most of the comic-based movies have disappointed me, especially "Fantastic Four" aka "Fantastic 4". I actually like the Nineties version, which is a rough cut; it's so much truer to the comic. A musclebound Johnny Storm with cropped-off brown hair is just sooooo wrong! Also, what's with the casting of Sue Storm?! I don't care for a lot of the "rebooting"/"reimagining" they've done because they destroy characters' individuality, which is unforgiveable of Marvel. Stan Lee's been my hero since I was 10, but~Shame on you, Stan, for letting them ransack these memories!

Been a while since my last post... and I wanted to correct something I said there. "Hellboy" was not created by Alan Moore; the original writer and artist was Mike Mignola. Oops!

Anyway, I've been getting more into comics from the 4 major publishers -- Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and Image. Have to say I'm not a huge fan of DC's "New 52" line, though; Scott Snyder's writing for the "Batman" comics has been excellent, but a lot of the changes to certain characters really don't sit well with me. Especially the notions that Nora was never Mr. Freeze's wife and he just deluded himself into thinking she was, and that Harvey Dent was corrupt long before becoming Two-Face.

I do like many of the recent superhero films, especially those that Marvel Studios produced themselves. I'm also a huge fan of Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight Trilogy." Naturally, there were some changes in all of them to bring them into the modern day, but I think in general, they've done a great job of keeping the original comics' spirit. That said, I agree with Cyn that the "Fantastic Four" movies were pretty bad. They're going to try it again with a new cast and crew, so let's hope they can get it right this time. I'm also not a big fan of the latest Superman film, "Man of Steel." I am looking forward to seeing how DC will build their wider universe on film to make way for the Justice League, though.